Request for Approval

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of
Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0920-1050)
TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Web Usability Study for CDC’s Radiation
Emergencies Website
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this information collection is to improve CDC’s efforts to provide lifesaving
information to the general population and public health officials during a public health
emergency. One of the main methods CDC’s Emergency Management, Radiation, and Chemical
Branch (EMRCB) utilizes to communicate radiation emergency-related content to the general
population and public health professionals is through their radiation emergencies website
(https://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/). To ensure users have a quality experience with the
Radiation Emergencies website, EMRCB staff would like to conduct a website usability
assessment with the general population and public health professionals. CDC’s EMRCB is
tasking Oak Ridge Associated Universities with the usability testing of CDC’s radiation
emergencies website. The goal of the study is to gather feedback on information architecture,
navigation elements, primary task flows, content presentation, page layout, key calls to action
and overall usability of CDC’s radiation emergencies website.
DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Respondents will include 18 members of the general
population and 18 state and local public health officials (n=36). Respondents will be required to
speak and understand English and must be 18 years or older.
The following criteria will be used to select general population participants:
 Have at least some high school education
 Have not participated in a focus group/interview in the last 6 months
 Does not work in any of the following fields:
o For a market research company
o For an advertising agency or public relations firm
o In the media (TV/radio/newspapers/magazines)
o As a healthcare professional (doctor, nurse, pharmacist, dietician, etc.)
o Is not an employee for any of the following:
 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
 State or local health department
 Department of Homeland Security
 State or local emergency management agency
 Nuclear power plant, radiation safety officer, health physicist or other
radiation-related occupation
The following criteria will be used to select public health participants:
 Employed at state, local, or county health departments
 Job duties include planning for radiological and nuclear incidents
 Years of experience (a range of experience will be represented)
TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)
[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form
[X] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software)
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[ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey
[ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group

[ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:
I certify the following to be true:
1. The collection is voluntary.
2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.
3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal
agencies.
4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.
5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential
policy decisions.
6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have
experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Alisha Etheredge -S

Digitally signed by Alisha
Etheredge -S
Date: 2018.12.18 13:36:00 -05'00'

Name:________________________________________________
To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:
Personally Identifiable Information:
1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [X] Yes [ ] No
2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the
Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [X] No
3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [X] No
Gifts or Payments:
Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to
participants? [X] Yes [ ] No
The contractor hired to conduct the usability testing will provide a token of appreciation of $30
in value to in-person respondents and $20 in value to remote respondents. Conditional gifts, or
tokens of appreciation, are necessary to recruit specific respondents and encourage their
participation in usability testing interviews, particularly for respondents traveling to the on-site
usability testing facility. CDC has limited time to make use of the contractor’s testing facility. A
conditional token of appreciation encourages scheduled respondents to show up to the testing
facility on time for their scheduled appointment.
A conditional token of appreciation also increases the likelihood that respondents will remain
engaged and provide meaningful feedback for the full duration of their interview on the CDC’s
radiation emergencies website. CDC plans to use recommendations from respondents to
determine the priority of future enhancements or changes to the radiation emergencies website.
Enhancements or changes have substantial costs to CDC in terms of staff time and other
resources. Therefore, ensuring high quality recommendations is essential for CDC to
appropriately plan enhancements over the next several years.
BURDEN HOURS

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Category of Respondent

No. of
Respondents
36
18
36
18
108

General public: screeners
General public: in-person interviews
Public health professionals: screeners
Public health professionals: remote interviews
Totals

Participation
Time
10 minutes
1 hour
10 minutes
1 hour

Burden
6 hours
18 hours
6 hours
18 hours
48 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $100,000.
This estimate includes: subcontractors to draft the protocol, recruit participants, conduct the web
usability interviews and analyze the results from the interviews and write a report for CDC. In
addition, this estimate includes the costs of two FTEs (GS 13 and 14) to supervise and review the
work, which is estimated at $5,000.
If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please
provide answers to the following questions:
The selection of your targeted respondents
1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential
respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe?
[X] Yes
[ ] No
If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If
the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of
respondents and how you will select them?
The contractor hired to conduct usability testing will identify respondents based on established
inclusion and exclusion criteria. Screeners for each respondent group are attached (Attachments
A and B). The personal identifying information (PII) being collected (name, phone number and
email address) will only be used to contact individuals for follow-up if needed (e.g., change in
interview day/time or if respondent does not show up to the interview). Collected PII will not be
linked to responses and will not be retained after the completion of the project.
Administration of the Instrument
1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)
[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media
[ ] Telephone
[X] In-person
[ ] Mail
[ ] Other, Explain
2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [X] Yes [ ] No
A total of 36 one-on-one interviews will be conducted by the contractor, both remotely and
in-person, lasting approximately 60 minutes (Attachments C and D). The respondents will

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consist of both the general public and public health professionals. The number of each
respondent type will be as follows:
In-person Interviews:
 General Public: n=18
o n=9 participants using PCs
o n=9 participants using smart phones or tablets
Remote Interviews
 Public Health Professionals: n=18
The protocol containing a detailed description of the methods (Attachment F) and the
participant information sheet that will be provided to all respondents (Attachment E) is
attached.
Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the
request.
List of Attachments:
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Attachment A: Public Health Officials Screening Instrument
Attachment B: Public Screening Instrument
Attachment C: Public Interview Guide
Attachment D: Public Health Official Interview Guide
Attachment E: Participant Information Sheet
Attachment F: Protocol

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